Super Niche Finds: Lace Caps, World Timers, and Other Niche Signals

Culture is crowded. Algorithms flatten taste. Super Niche Finds is our bi-weekly curation of the strange, stylish, and slightly obsessive corners worth paying attention to. Less breaking news, more breadcrumbs on the trail of what’s next. This series is brought to you by Meighan Johnson, who has the rare ability to spot a micro-trend before it becomes a macro cliché.

1. The “I Told Chat GPT About You” Tee

Meighan’s Notes: The new breakup text isn’t in your inbox, it’s printed on a T-shirt. “I Told Chat GPT About You” captures the moment AI stopped being futuristic and started becoming our emotional middleman. It’s merch as therapy, wearable irony for the algorithm era.

A shirt that’s basically subtweet couture. Half-joke, half-confession, 100% viral.

2. Crochet Lace Skull Caps

Meighan’s Notes: Forget chunky balaclavas, lace skull caps are the new head trip. Spotted at Copenhagen Fashion Week, they’re equal parts thrift-store eccentricity and heiress nonchalance. Fragile, fussy, but loaded with intent, like a rejection of hard-edged recession-core in favor of delicate rebellion.

The look says “art residency in Ibiza,” but the price tag probably says Dover Street Market.

3. Nomos World Timer

Meighan’s Notes:  World timers usually scream status. The new Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer whispers it instead. Slim, colorful, and under five grand, it makes the complication playful again. Finally, a travel watch that feels designed for the global creative class, not just the private jet set.

Consider this the first world timer for people who travel more for Basel than business class.

4. The “Mont Blanc” Coffee Craze

Meighan’s Notes:  Melbourne gave us flat whites, now it gives us this: cold brew topped with whipped cream, nutmeg, and orange zest. The “Mont Blanc” is less a viral stunt than a ritual waiting to happen. Dalgona was chaos; this is café culture export. And the orange zest isn’t optional, it’s the spark that makes it linger.

Order it before Starbucks figures out how to ruin it.

5. Aime Leon Dore’s Derby Hiker

Meighan’s Notes: Call it the most democratic boot of the season. ALD’s Derby Hiker blends loafer polish, hiking-boot grit, and just enough swagger to get cosigned by your grandfather and your bartender. It makes Timberlands look stuck in the past and Prada loafers look overdressed.

Imagine if a loafer and a hiking boot had a baby raised on downtown New York sidewalks. That’s this shoe.